With the Band
by Flipper Boid Skua
Summary: Very strange fanfic. Takes place in the Antarctic Forest with Falconflies, Flutterbirds, and Spitfire Beetles of course! Much more thorough summary inside. R&R! Rating MAY change for later chapters, due to strong language and stuff.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own The Future is Wild or any of its characters.

Summary: As I said before, it's a rather strange fanfic. No, it's not about the human crew in the Timeflyer as I think it's the animals that should have the show! ^^ This has nothing to do with the documentary either, I put it under this category because I like the cartoon designs much better than the 'realistic' designs! ^^ And there might be animal characters that came from the show. Now, why is this strange? Well, different species of the Antarctic Rainforest come together to make a rock band. Yes, you read right, a rock band with high-tech guitars and drums and everything. They still live a natural life with trees and the food-chain, just with a little bit of technology and stuff mixed in. Now if you have something against strangeness like that, I advise you don't go any further! Anywho, naturally, different species working together when they would've been enemies could cause a lot of trouble in the forest......Even worse when two of them starts falling for each other......Based this on a dream. Now if you made it this far without rolling your eyes and/or scoffing, please enjoy the story. Thank you! ^^

* * *

_Prologue_

"No....no." Sprayz shifted the hold on her pencil (Yes, pencil! Get used to it! ^^) and erased her spelling error. She had just finished singing the Spitfire part of the dawn chorus, and as usual, she was recording her newly made song. Chattering her beak, she paused momentarily to listen to the chirps and peeps of other Flutterbirds. Sighing and shifting on her perch, she wondered why she is the way she is. Instead of resigning herself to traditional bird-song, she juices it up with words and refrains. Then, when she's done, she writes them down to remember them later.

Her singing passion started practically from the moment she hatched....Not really, but that's how long it felt. Her parents never reprimanded her for it, but never exactly supported her either. For some reason, she was happy with that. She couldn't stand the idea of them either being angry with her talent or gushing over it like mindless birds.

Giving another sigh, she shook out her feathers and stowed her paper and pencil in a secret knothole in her branch. Spreading her wings, she took flight and fluttered off to her prime hunting ground, ready to eat breakfast. Along the way, she couldn't help but hum the tune to her new song.

--

Dagger yanked another bite off his Flutterbird breakfast that he brought down about half an hour ago. Like all Falconflies, he enjoyed the taste of birds, especially those that were particularly agile or put up a good fight. Those are the ones where victory tasted the sweetest. He won't deny that his favorite part of the whole meal was the seasoning saltiness of the blood. Usually the first thing he does after he kills his prey is to lick the red stains off his claws and harpoon-like limbs.

His breakfast was temporarily interrupted when he heard a musical humming, something quite unusual in these forests. Looking up, he saw the source, a Spitfire Bird, fly by. It didn't know he was there and he fought his hunting instincts as it disappeared into the foliage. Although Falconflies can and usually will continue to kill birds for fun and sporting pleasure, dagger didn't really feel like it at the moment. He decided to let the lucky bird go.

In fact, hearing the humming got him in a musical mood himself. Ripping off as much meat as he could carry, the large insect flew to his secret log, leaving the carcass behind for the scavengers. Inside the log, he had something very precious to him hidden away from the rest of the world:

His guitar collection...

And along the way, he startled a pair of Flutterbirds.

--

"Whoa!" Metie and Oxie exclaimed simultaneously as a Falconfly zoomed by in front of them. They watched the apex predator carefully, but thankfully, it showed no interest in them and continued to fly out of sight. The two Flutterbirds gave a sigh of relief.

"All of a sudden, I thought he was out to get us." Metie said to her Roachcutter companion, who nodded.

"Tell me about it.....Like I need another bug on my tail." She rolled her eyes and continued the course through the forest. "I mean, honestly. Don't these Falconflies have anything better to do than to go around killing things?"

A distant screech sounded, telling all in the forest that a Falconfly has claimed another victim. The duo shuddered instinctively as the False Spitfire Bird answered the obvious.

"Apparently not." She sighed with a mutter. "I heard they hunt for sport."

"They do." Oxie confirmed grimly. Metie frowned.

"Freaks of nature, that's what they are." Their conversation came to an end as they arrived at a towering Spitfire tree. Metie's mood brightened. "Here's my stop. See ya later and be careful!"

"You too!" the Roachcutter returned as she darted deeper into the forest. Metie got to business and hovered near the tree and flowers, pretending to show interest like a real Spitfire Bird would. This was all part of her defense: Look like a Spitfire Bird, act like a Spitfire Bird....

And dodge like a Spitfire Bird.

Metie startled as one flower lunged at her when she got near it. With a cry, her body jerked back in an aerial flip. With wide eyes and a gaping beak, the Flutterbird panted, staring down at the flower...

That wasn't a flower...

The False Spitfire Bird cocked her head in confusion as four large beetles, at least half her size, took the place of the plant. What the hell? She's never had this experience before. There's only one thing for a young bird to do:

"Oxie! These bugs tried to get me and I don't know what they are! Can you....." Her words faded as she flew further into the forest and further away from the beetles.

--

Nymph, the leader of the foursome, was the first to right himself onto his claws and he looked up at the retreating bird that they were trying to catch. No point chasing after it, he knows they'll never catch up. Spitfire Beetles were made for ambush, not speedy pursuits.

"Eh...Perhaps next time we'll have a higher success rate." Nab muttered as he too got on his six legs. The other two soon recovered and they turned to the lead beetle, wondering what to do next. Will they reclimb the tree and try again with another bird? Or will they call it quits for the time being? Nymph looked back at them.

"How many of you are actually hungry to begin with? Personally I can wait until lunch."

Neon and Nip glanced at each other and the subordinate trio shrugged. They knew they were luck to have a leader that asks for their opinion. Some beetles leaders in other groups tended to boss their companions around in a dictatorship that would make Hitler cry. Thankfully Nymph wasn't like that.

"Agreed. I'd prefer to bide my time until noon arrives." Nab started. Neon nodded with a grunt.

"Me too!.....Whatever Nab said...." Nip muttered cutely, being the youngest and practical baby of the group.

Nymph nodded in approval. "Good, good." he muttered with a flutter of his wingcase. "Until then, maybe we should practice our music."

The other beetles seemed delighted by this and hurriedly flew for the canopy of their tree where their respected instruments waited for them.

--

So our characters carried on with their daily activities. Sprayz veered through the clearing she chose as a feeding ground, happily singing lines from her new song as she caught her breakfast. Dagger hovered in his hollow log with his own breakfast, contentedly tuning his favorite electric guitar in preparation for composing his own music. Metie and Oxie perched on a branch near their mixed flock's nesting tree, the Roachcutter telling her friend all she knew about the insect predators of the forest before they both tried to pass the time and lighten their mood with humming of their own. The beetle foursome practiced their songs on the thickest and strongest branch of their tree, working to perfection.

All eight animals of the Antarctic Rainforest were completely different in terms of species, but all connected in some subtle way. But how long would this subtlety last before they start a project that will change their lives in the most unexpected way?

* * *

A prologue just to introduce the characters. Tell me what you think: Should I continue with the next chappy? Should I stop now with the weirdness and just delete the story? Tell me in your reviews!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own The Future is Wild or any of its characters. I also DO NOT own the song Christmas Eve/Sarajevo. That's from the famous Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

* * *

_Chapter 1_

"Wow...." Sprayz muttered to herself as she hovered in front of a bulletin paper stapled to a tree. Squinting, she landed at the base of the nearest branch and leaned closer for a better look. She comes to this tree regularly, as does most everyone in the forest. It was the tallest and oldest tree in the area and the locals used it as a message board. Attached to the tree's massive trunk were countless files of special events, written in the universal language.

And among them....

" 'That time of year is right around the corner'...." the Spitfire Bird muttered aloud. " 'That's right, we're talking about Unitan. So celebrate the holiday by coming to our annual festival at the Stadium on the special day. Open 24 hours to accomodate for you more noctunal critters. Filled with talent shows and a Battle of the Bands. All those who make the creative list, this can be the perfect opportunity to be discovered. All species welcomed!...."

Sprayz leaned even closer to read the fine print. "....We are not responsible for any physical, mental, and/or emotional harm inflicted during this event. Please and Thank You!' " The Flutterbird couldn't help but smile and shake her head. It sounded like her older sister talking and it wouldn't surprise her if her sister was the one who made this ad. Quite suddenly, she was struck with an idea. She had singing talent! She can perform! Better yet, she can start a singing group! That'll be so exciting! Giddy and hyper, she took to a hover and ripped off a couple of application in his claws. Humming delightfully to herself, she took off....

And flew over a hollow log.

--

Dagger looked up and towards the opening of his log as a piece of paper gently fell to the ground. Carefully placing one of his guitars against the wall, he flew outside and picked the paper up in his front claws. He turned his gaze into the canopy and watched a Spitfire Bird disappear. Again he didn't bother giving chase. Instead, he examined the paper held before him. It was an application to perform at the Stadium during the festival. After all, Unitan was not far away. It was practically the only holiday anyone celebrated around here. There's presents and parties and (of course) the festival with fireworks a few minutes before midnight to finish things off. It was generally a lot of fun. Only thing Dagger wasn't looking forward to was the fasting.

During Unitan, the forest is to be at peace with no killing, not even for food. Falconflies and Spitfire Beetles are not allowed to hunt birds and Flutterbirds are not to eat their tiny insect prey. Plants were free game though and if anyone were to get hungry enough, they can spend time chewing on a leaf or something. Because of this starve fest, it isn't unusual to find everyone stuffing themselves the day before.

Dagger tilted his head thoughtfully as he looked over the application. Maybe he should sign up and play his guitars for everyone. After this consideration, however, he shook his head and dropped the paper. Turning away, he went to return to his log, but he paused as if having second thought. Peeking over his buzzing wings, he sighed and returned to the paper, picking it up and giving it another look.

Maybe.....Just maybe....

--

Soft music rung from a Spitfire tree and even this soft music intensified as the beetles played one of their favorite songs (Which is stated in the disclaimer for the curious readers). Each insect improvised a bit with their chosen instruments: Nymph enjoyed the electric guitar very much, for reasons he did not know; Nab had preferences for something of deeper tone, so a bass guitar suited him just fine; Neon always liked hitting things, so drums were his specialty; Nip loved the various, but still soothing sounds of piano, so one was specially-made for a small, baby-ish beetle such as himself.

Of course, they can generalize in instruments. For example, Nab can also play the cello and bass. Neon can play anything that's loud and bang-able. Nip liked to play with xylophones to when he can get the chance. The baby also had one little habit:

"Nip, can you stop sucking your claw when your playing?" Nymph said when the song finished. Little Nip gave a cute beetle-smile.

"Kay." Almost immediately, he played with a few notes on his piano, absent-mindedly sticking his claw back into his mouth to suck on. His leader shook his head with his own beetle-smile. He never actually minded Nip's ways, as the young beetle's age was enough of an excuse. Most of the time, the foursome of a Spitfire group was the same general age. However, Nip was an adopted member. He was one of the unfortunate beetles to have been separated from the group and hopelessly lost. Luckily, he found a trio willing to take him in before he could starve to death.

The trio was starving too. They had lost a member to a rogue Falconfly. Apparently, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and the giant wasp made them pay dearly by killing their brother. The remaining trio got away and took the risk to visit the local Falconfly nest, reporting the crime done against them to the leader of the colony. Falconflies hated Spitfire Beetles, but they had to follow the law and that law stated that the two insect species were not to harm each other unless in defense. The case of the attacking wasp was NOT in defense at all. The law-breaking bug was punished, but that was little comfort to the beetles.

Like Nip, their problem was being unable to trick the Spitfire Birds into coming close enough to catch and eat. One beetle can't make a flower and neither can three. The trio tried angling themselves to look as close to a flower as possible, but apparently Flutterbirds were smarter than the insects gave them credit for. It was a miracle they found each other in time.

"Nymph. Lunch time yet?" Nip asked. "I'm hungry."

"Technically," Nab started. "Judging from the position of the sun, our midday consumption session has yet to begin." At this, Nip had the most adorable confused face in the world. Nymph smiled with a sigh, always having to translate for the little guy.

"It's not lunchtime yet." he explained. Nip lowered his antennas sadly, Neon drumming a beat to suit the mood before Nymph continued. "But a little brunch wouldn't hurt."

Nip's antennas immediately perked up and he bounced in excitement. "Yay!" But his excited cry took a more panicked tone as a loud crack sounded from their branch. The other beetles snapped the gazes to the base of the branch where a crack was visible...and growing.

"Fly!!!" Nymph yelled and the beetles hopped off just in time, the branch snapping loudly and tumbling to the ground, taking their instruments with it. They watched helplessly as the limb crashed to the ground with an earth-rumbling jolt. More ominous noises came from the tree but it went little noticed to the youngest beetle, who yelped and cried.

"Pianie!!" he shouted the name of his beloved piano, zooming down hastily, ignoring the warnings of his team-mates as he landed on the branch and examined his music-maker. "Pianie..." It was safe and he cooes gently, sucking his claw as he nuzzled the piano for a moment as if it was a living creature. He then paused as the loudest crack of all sounded. "Huh?" he muttered in confusion as the other beetles yelled out his name in sheer panic. He looked up as a giant shadow fell over him. A cloud? No, a tree. Their tree, falling! Right towards him!

Suddenly, Neon and Nymph tackled him hastily out of harms way and the tree crashed into the earth where they were just a second ago and where his piano still stood. In an instant, it was crushed and destroyed.... A bitter blow and distressing thing for the baby beetle to witness.

Nab landed by them. "Much better to have been the musical device than our juvenile beetle member."

"You okay, Nip?" Nymph asked as he helped the youngster up. Nip nodded quietly, whimpering softly to himself as Nymph looked at the fallen Spitfire tree. Their home, tumbled and destroyed. Neon flew off and searched it before returning with Nymph and Nab's guitars and his drumsticks, groaning with limp antennas that basically told the others that's all that survived the crash in one piece. Nymph listlessly took his guitar and sighed.

"Orders, Nymph?" Nab asked as he took his bass guitar as well. Nymph said nothing for a moment before muttering.

"It's obvious, fellas. We gotta find a new home. Let's go....."

One by one, the beetles opened their wings and took to the air, flying deeper into the forest. Nip paused to pay one last glance at the remains of his home and of his piano. Sniffling, he caught up with the others to help in their relocation mission.

--

"Hey.....I'm missing one...." Sprayz whispered to herself. She then shrugged cheerfully. "Oh well! That's why I took extra!" She considered herself genius at times like this.

She had landed on a tree outside her usual preferences. Normally, she'll respect the territory of other birds and she stays well away from trees that aren't hers in order to avoid unnecessary fights. But at the moment, her hyperness had left her breathless and she knew that she needed to take a rest. She just hoped the owners won't mind...

"Hey, Spitfire Bird! That's OUR tree!"

Sprayz looked up and saw two Flutterbirds hovering nearby: a Roachcutter and a False Spitfire Bird, both young females her age. They were obviously wary of her and probably expecting a scuffle, being that they never strayed into acid-shooting distance. Luckily for them, this bird likes to keep to the non-violent option. She nodded.

"Sorry. Just catching my breath. But I'll go now." she reassured and took to the air, flying off hurriedly. But-

"Wait! You forgot something!" one of them called out. Sprayz hesitated and looked back at the duo. They were perched on the branch she was on and were looking at her application. Sprayz smiled in gratitude and flew over, not bothering to hide her haste. "Thanks. Bye." Again, she was about to head off when the Falsie stopped her with a curious question.

"You going to perform at the Stadium?" she inquired. Sprayz was more than happy to nod.

"Really?" the Roachcutter joined. "What're you gonna do?"

"Sing a little. Nothing big."Sprayz answered, taking the risk and settling on a nearby branch. She didn't want to intrude, but now the two don't seem to mind her presence The Falsie ruffled her wings hopefully.

"Sing like:...." She let out a few chirps. "....or _sing_ sing?

Sprayz chuckled. "_Sing _sing." she responded in a relieved tone. She couldn't stand the idea of singing in the normal bird way. The very thought made her shudder in distaste. But for some strange reason, the Falsie screeched in excitement. Sprayz jumped, fighting the instinct to take off at the sudden noise. The Roachcutter pressed a wing on the other bird's beak to muffle the cries, also muttering soothingly.

"Now now. Remember...we don't need any Falconflies to know we're here, do we?" At this, the Falsie shook her head before the purple bird removed the wing from her mouth. She then looked a bit embarassed as she regarded Sprayz.

"Sorry. I'm sorta the excitable type."

The Spitfire Bird smiled. "You kidding? You make my hyperness look like crap and that's saying something!" She bowed to the other Flutterbird, rustling her wings jazz-style in a kind of worship gesture. "You are now officially my idol."

The Falsie held her head high playfully. "Yes, yes..." she said in some kind of strange accent. "...lots of bird wished they were as fabulous as me, eh?"

The bird trio giggled, already becoming fast friends.

"By the way, I'm Sprayz."

"Metie."

"Oxie." the Roachcutter joined. For a brief moment, she stared at Sprayz thoughtfully before adding: "You know...You're not like the other Spitfire Birds."

Sprayz smiled, taking that as a compliment.

"Yeah..." Metie continued. "All the other Spitfires would have attacked us by now and tried to steal our tree. We were surprised that you never tried that."

The topic of their words shrugged with a hum. "I don't like how they treat you guys like dirt. As far as I'm concerned, we're all birds with a lot in common and we need to stick together." The other two nodded in awe-filled agreement. "And I never liked the Spitfire attitude to begin with. Good defenses, but rotten personality? No thanks." Metie and Oxie looked at each other, surprised that these words were coming from the beak of a Spitfire Bird. "Anywho, what was that squeal about anyways?"

"Oh!" Oxie answered for her Falsie friend. "Well, we thought we were the only ones to _sing_ sing. But apparently not."

Sprayz hopped on her perch, suddenly restless. "You _sing _sing too?" The other birds nodded. The Spitfire gave a shudder, restraining her hyperness. Oxie smiled.

"Go ahead. Let it out. Metie does the same thing."

With this permission, Sprayz screeched, jumping up and down. Naturally, the noise wasn't as loud as the Falsie's, but it was piercing enough. Then she regained control of herself before any Falconflies took notice and think something was wrong with her. "That's great! Because I had this idea..." She told them all about what she had in mind for the festival and they listened intently and with great interest. "So what do you guys think?"

"Great idea!" Metie exclaimed excitedly.

"We're in!" Oxie replied with a slight hop of her own.

--

"Dagger! I know you're here!"

Said insect jolted his head up, eyes snapping open. Uh oh....It was Spear, a fellow Falconfly. Dagger had nothing against him, them being close pals, but Spear knew nothing of Dagger's little hide out and Dagger would rather keep it that way. The large bug flew out of his log cautiously and looked around. He saw Spear hovering nearby with his back turned. Dagger was about to sneak off in the opposite direction...

"Dagger!"

....Or maybe not....

The Falconfly flinched at the sound of his name and one of his harpoon limbs fiddled with the other nervously. Then, knowing it was useless to try to escape now, he gave a sigh and turned to face the approaching bug. "Hey, Spear." he greeted, trying to act normal and hoping that the topic of the log behind him won't come up.

"Dagger, where the hell have you been? I've been looking and yelling for ya for the past few hours and you wouldn't answer back." Spear informed him.

Dagger's jaws opened dumbly and he tried quickly to think of an excuse for not responding to the insistent calls. Truthfully, he was too busy practicing to pay much attention to anything else. But he couldn't say that! "Oh.... I probably didn't hear you....." A feather blew by. "The, uh, birds here make a lot of loud noises..." It was the best he could come up with on such short notice. And apparently it was good enough to pass.

"Huh, we'll kill those things later and fix that problem. Anyway, Blazer (Yes, the 'leader' Falconfly from my other TFiW fanfic; made a cameo in the show) wanted to see you bout something. Probably too late now and probably ticked him off, but still, get your sorry abdomen back to the nest." Spear said with a smile. Dagger smiled back.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright." he muttered as he pushed pass the othe insect. He was just glad that-

"Hey Dagger. Were you hiding in this log the whole time?"

Why can't anything go right?! He jolted around and saw Spear about to peek into the log curiously. He was quick to zoom in front of him and block the way. "Maybe. I dunno." he started before realizing how stupid that sounded. Let's try again on that... "But 'hiding' is such a strong word. I prefer to call it 'concealing myself from everyone's view and knowledge'." Now that sounded both stupid and intelligent at the same time.... He made a mental note to get better at this.

"Why? This your hunting perch?" Spear asked, all the while trying unsuccessfully to get a look pass Dagger.

"Sure. Something like that."

"Then why can't I look inside?"

"Because...." Quick! Think! "....This log's my territory." Now that actually sounded good. But not good enough.

"Oh, please." A scoff. "We're from the same nest. What's your territory is my territory." Spear mentioned as he faked a look to the left and zoomed inside from the right. Dagger was too slow to stop him and only watched helplessly as his friend looked around the log in astonishment.

--

So Sprayz, Metie, and Oxie has joined forces to create a singing group for the festival. Dagger thought of signing up and is now having his secret hide-out unsecretized. How will Spear react? And how will the Spitfire Beetle's forced move effect them in the near future?


End file.
